Dilithium Dilemma
(US Comic Strips) | number = 2 | writer = Thomas Warkentin | artist = Thomas Warkentin | omnibus = The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1 | published = - March 8, 1980 | format = | | pages = 20 (56 comic strips) | date = 2273 | stardate = 7495.3-7504.7 | altcover = Star Trek Newspaper Strip Vol 1 cover.jpeg | }} Dilithium Dilemma is a Star Trek: The Original Series comic strip. It is the second story in the US Comic Strips series, published by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. The story was set after , depicting events from Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the refurbished . In this story, written and drawn by Thomas Warkentin, a Klingon battle cruiser complicates the crew’s desperate mission to replace the ship’s fused dilithium crystals. It continued directly from the previous story, "Called Home". Summary ;Captain's Log: Stardate 7495.3. :The recent drain upon our dilithium reserves critically limits our range and capability. The ''Enterprise is marginally operational.'' The ship was more than four years away from the nearest starbase at sub-warp speed, but nine days away from Forma VI, site of a colony and an old dilithium mine. Captain's Log: Stardate 7504.3. :On the threshold of total burnout our dilithium reserves, we are enroute to Forma VI, in the hope of replenishing our supply from a played out mine there. Captain's Log: Stardate 7504.4. :Our dilithium supply nearly exhausted, we are en route to Forma VI to replenish our supply. Rather than reveal our limited capability to Klingons already in orbit, we are using the last of our reserves to approach at warp speed. ;Captain's Log: Stardate 7504.41. :The Klingons have left orbit at our warp speed approach. We have made contact with the Forma VI colony, and received permission to land a party. The Klingon ship left at impulse speed. Janice Rand reported power reserves too low to trust the transporter, so James T. Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Hikaru Sulu and Arcturian mining engineer Ensign Taskul landed a shuttle near the colony. The colonists said the Klingons had searched the mine and failed to find any dilithium there. Sulu had requested to be on the landing party in order to see the planet’s famous flora, so the female colonist took McCoy and Sulu on a guided tour of the area. Meanwhile, two Klingons remaining on the planet, and , first officer of the Kandar, watched from nearby woods. At the mine, Taskul told Kirk, Spock and another colonist that “every known detection technique” had not located dilithium. Then they heard crying, ran to discover a bound Human baby, and found themselves surrounded by five Klingons. After taking their phasers and communicators, Koth, demanded dilithium in exchange for their lives, and threatened to use an agonizer on him. At the end of their tour, the female colonist brought Sulu and McCoy to a Klingon D7 class battlecruiser that had crashed before she'd been born. McCoy reported to Kirk that they’d found dilithium aboard a wrecked Klingon ship a few kilometers downriver, unaware he was being overheard. Spock realized their value as hostages had ended, and quickly wrenched wires from an electrical junction box to plunge the mine into darkness, allowing them to evade their captors and flee outside. ;Captain's Log: Stardate 7504.7. :Chief Engineer Scott recording. In order to beam up a quantity of dilithium found by Doctor McCoy and Helmsman Sulu, we are tapping residual charge from ship’s phasers for a single-surge boost directly into the transporter. Meanwhile, the baby was reunited with its parents, who told them that the Klingon group had already been there, smashed their radio, and taken a boat. Unable to communicate with Sulu and McCoy, Kirk, Spock and Taskul pursued in another boat. In orbit, the battlecruiser returned. Kodrash, captain of the Klingon cruiser, said his landing party had captured three of Scotty’s shipmates. They would be returned in exchange for dilithium. Scotty replied he’d blow up their ship if Kodrash didn’t return them in one hour. Kodrash said that was “preferable to returning to the Empire later than ordered.” Sensing trouble, Sulu pushed the female colonist and McCoy away from a sudden Klingon ambush. Then they heard phaser fire, then silence, then Chekov calling them. Chekov had beamed down with five security officers and captured the Klingons. Arriving afterwards, Kirk congratulated them all. Once back on the ship, Chekov suggested that Kirk not beam down in future without a security escort. On the bridge, Kirk told Kodrash he was returning the Klingon landing party in a travel pod, along with enough dilithium to get them back to the Empire. But once it was launched, suspecting a trick, the Klingons shot down the pod, killing their own people and destroying the dilithium, then left orbit on impulse power. References Characters :Pavel Chekov • Ilia • James T. Kirk • Kodrash • • • Leonard McCoy • Janice Rand • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Taskul • Nyota Uhura • Forma VI colonists • unnamed Humans • unnamed Klingons Starships and vehicles :powered boat • ( ) • (Klingon heavy cruiser) • Klingon wrecked cruiser • shuttlecraft • travel pod Locations :Forma VI Romulan-Klingon Neutral Zone Races and cultures :Arcturian • Human • Klingon • Vulcan Romulan States and organizations :Federation • Klingon Empire • Starfleet Science and technology :agonizer • binoculars • circuitry • communicator • dilithium • disruptor • fifth cranial nerve • impulse power • junction box • navi-computer • phaser • radio • sensor • tractor beam • transporter • tricorder • warp engine • warp three • warp five • weather satellite • year Ranks and titles :captain • chief engineer • commander • doctor • ensign • first officer • lieutenant • mining engineer • Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s) Other references :battle stations • bomb • bridge • brig • botany • colony • dilithium • flora • gold • hostage • Jovian frost-moss • lead • logic • meter • military • mining • orbit • ore • Organian Peace Treaty • security team • shuttle • starbase • Starfleet uniform (early 2270s) • starship • transporter room • war Timeline Appendices Related stories * – Described the starship refit, crew changes, and technology updates that occurred prior to the events of this story, as well as introducing the new look of Klingons and their ships. * – Described the events which caused the ship’s dilithium dilemma. * – A warp experiment in 2268 wiped out warp drive and other systems, forcing the Enterprise to limp at impulse to the Omicron Persei system, where a team traveled by shuttlecraft to a planet to find replacement dilithium crystals in a dilithium vein. Information * This is the second of 13 stories set after the events of with the crew wearing the Starfleet uniform (early 2270s). It was the second of five stories set in 2273 near the beginning of Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the .. * An inadvertent continuity error occurred when Kirk and Ilia discussed the ship’s location relative to the nearest starbase in two panels of the strip published on Sunday, January 13, 1980. That strip was reprinted in The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1 on page 29. Why did she appear, when Ilia had been killed in ? Writer/artist Warkentin produced this story prior to the release of the film. According to , Warkentin worked from stills of the bridge crew provided by Paramount, and his widow, Rosie Warkentin Ford, stated that he didn't know Ilia had died in the movie until he saw it opening night. Ilia had appeared without a speaking role in two panels of the previous story, "Called Home". This was her final appearance in the comic strip series. * When the landing party was surrounded in the mine, five Klingons could be seen in the distance in a panel published on February 2, 1980. But when the Klingon troops drove a four-man boat to the wreck, only four Klingons were shown, leaving one Klingon unaccounted for. * This story arc was not printed with a title. Its title was provided from Warkentin's original script by his widow, Rosie Warkentin Ford, for the story's reprinting in The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1. ( ). * Kodrash cursed in Klingonese in the strip published March 2, 1980. While Nyota Uhura didn't know what it meant, Kirk did. Images LA2-Taskul.jpg|Ensign Taskul LA2-Archurian.jpg|Taskul and two colonists LA2-Rand.jpg|Janice Rand LA2-Kodrash.jpg|Captain Kodrash LA2-Koth.jpg|First officer Koth US2-Krax.jpg|Krax LA2-Ilia.jpg|Lt. Ilia LA2-Agonizer.jpg|Agonizer LA2-Colonist.jpg|Colonist LA2-Shuttle.jpg|Shuttle launch US2-Kandar-over-Forma-VI.jpeg|''Kandar'' over Forma VI External links * * Category:TOS comics Category:Comic strips Category:TOS comic story arcs